He picked it up. There was no light on it now. As he turned it over, he started and nearly dropped it. There, clinging to it with the last of his strength, was Azure. This was not good. He gently lifted the little dragon up and held him in his palm, thinking he was broken too. A puff of smoke came out of his nostrils, proving Fin wrong. He was alive. But only just.
Fin stood for several minutes trying to decide what to do. These troubles were for humans. He had never had to make more of a decision than whether he was going to eat a man or not. This was beyond him.
Should he go on and try to find Charlotte, or go back to his Labyrinth and save Azure. He looked down at the pathetic creature. It was true what he was not of this world, his heart didn’t beat and his lungs did not breathe. Yet still he blew out fire and found joy in the world. His attraction to Charlotte was incredible. So, too, his inner strength. Either, somehow, he had managed to keep himself here despite his need to follow her, or he had flown here. Whichever it was, Azure had one goal. To find help for Charlotte and lead them back to her.
Fin made his decision; he turned and ran back to the Labyrinth. Relieved to be out of the human world, he slipped into his sanctuary. There he hesitated, tempted to pull the stone back against the hole so he would never be able to leave his home again. But he might have to, with no way of contacting Serena; he might be the only one to help her. First, he had to revive Azure; he raced back to the fire, which had burned down to warm embers. Almost burning his fingers, he placed the little dragon by the side of it.
As he stood up, he became aware of a presence in the rock chamber with him. Turning, he saw the Dragon Lord. “Good evening, beast. I think you have something that belongs to us. I warn you, if you do not hand over the girl Charlotte, we will kill you and end your reign of terror.”
Out of the shadows came four other dragons. Fin had never seen them all together. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought the dragons were going to war.
Chapter Thirty Four - Charlotte
“Welcome to my new home, Charlotte. Enjoy your stay; it won’t be a long one.” Samuel sneered at her, or at least that was what she thought he was doing. His face looked even worse in the electric light illuminating the large warehouse they were standing in.
“A little bit more modern than the church,” she said, trying not to show her fear.
“Don’t worry. It has all the latest gadgets. But it all takes money to restore my place of power since you trashed my last empire with those ancient reptiles. Still. You will repay me.”
She had to ask. “How?”
“Well. A woman like you fetches a high price.”
“A woman like me? There is nothing special about me.”
“On the contrary.” He came towards her, and she tried not to flinch as the light showed her every inch of his burnt face. Skin stretched and shiny pulled into all manner of crazy ridges and craters. “As far as I am aware, you have not been claimed by that dragon of yours.”
How did he know about Zoah being her mate? Not to mention that they had not consummated the mating bond?
“Don’t worry. I’ve made sure you fetched a high price. I am doing a roaring trade in virgins.” He laughed. “Sorry, inside joke. Only it seems there are plenty of misfits who want a little innocent virgin of their own to break. But don’t worry. Your owner is particularly cruel. I might even see if he will film your first ... coupling, so that I can show your poor, distraught dragon. I hear he isn’t feeling too well. But not as bad as he when he finds out what happened to you.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“No. I don’t think so. He tried before and failed. And that was before his little accident.”
“What accident?”
“He fell from the sky.”
Her skin was damp with sweat, chilling her body as a sense of dread swept over her. She refused to believe him. She would never let him have power over her again. “He will come.”
“So naive. Anyway, if he does come to rescue you I’ll be waiting for him.” Samuel came right up to her; she could feel his breath on her face. She had to close her eyes to blot out his hideous face. “And I will drain every drop of blood from him until I can bathe in it. It seems only right that his death should be the thing that returns me to my original self. And while he dies, I’ll make sure he knows exactly what happened to you. Every last painful detail.”
“Go to hell.”
He pulled back from her and laughed. “No, my dear, that’s where you’re going. Vampires love sweet, innocent blood. He’ll play with you for hours; torture you for days. I thought you’d like to have a glimpse of what you put me through when you set me on fire. This vampire has paid a large premium for you. When I told him I knew of an unclaimed dragon mate, he was most insistent that he have you. He even paid me a finder’s fee. When you disappeared, I thought I would have to repay it. You gave me quite the run-around.”
“How did you find me?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said. He actually sounded excited, and Charlotte knew she wouldn’t like what he had to say. Putting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a small, round compass. “It’s not as good as that little dragon of yours, but then the blood donor isn’t a flying beast. So I made do with this. I know exactly where you are.”
“Blood donor?”
“Your poor, dear mother. She took a bit of tracking down, but she was more than willing to give me some blood in return for a fix.”
He might just have hit her in the head, she was so stunned. Her mother had let her down again. Then there was the knowledge that after everything they had been through, Tara had also betrayed them again. She must have told him everything and made him a tracker of his own.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“You dead. Maybe a few dragons at my command. Seven altogether, I believe. Do you think they’ll all come, for one of their own?”
“Not for me.”
“I think you underestimate them. You are bound to their kind by a mating bond. They are too chivalrous to let you rot. So you will be the bait.”
“They can’t find me without the tracker.”
“I know you released him. So don’t take me for a fool. Useful little thing, that tracker charm. If only you had stayed in Spellholm, I would never have found you. That spell surrounding the forest stopped my compass finding you. Unfortunately, this compass is not as potent as your little dragon. Your mother's blood is too tainted.”
“I’m bored of your ravings. You always were mad, now you are delusional.”
“You have it wrong. I have spent so much time planning all this. What else can you do when people shun you for the way you look? Selling you is just the beginning. It seems I am not the only one interested in dragons. I have made new allegiances and the dragons will fall to me.” His voice had risen in pitch. She feared what such a madman was capable of.
“You should have been happy to be alive. This time you will die.” Charlotte only hoped she would be around to see Samuel meet his end.
“No. This time I’m ready. There is no dragon ward, he is welcome to come and try to save you. I have a new witch at my disposal and she is not as treacherous as Tara." Samuel grew angry. "And don’t worry; I’ll get to Tara next. But first your mate. This time when the dragon comes in, he won’t be able to leave. I will have his blood.”
“You won’t win.”
He walked away, signalling to one of his men to take her away. With her hands still bound, she was thrown into a small room. The door shut behind her before she had a chance to do anything, the footsteps disappearing into the distance. Alone at last, she collapsed onto the floor and wept until her eyes were heavy and, despite the numbness in her arms, she slept. Her mind was going over the new information she had gathered. Did she believe Samuel? He said he wanted to get his revenge on Tara next. That meant she couldn't be the one who had betrayed them. So who? Charlotte knew she couldn’t leave here without finding out who it was.
&n
bsp; ***
He was close. Opening her eyes, she prayed it wasn’t a dream. Or should she hope it was? If he was here, they would catch him and Samuel would use his blood. Everything would turn out as Samuel wanted. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Zoah,” she whispered.
A key was inserted into the door. She held her breath as he opened it. Frowning, she looked at the man in front of her. Not Zoah. Confused, she put her head down to ram him into the wall so she could make her escape.
“Wait. I’m still a little fragile. So don’t do that,” he said, holding his hands out to her.
“Zoah?”
“In the flesh. Do you like my new look?”
“No,” she hissed. “You have to leave.”
“Not without you.”
“I can’t go with you.” She looked at him closely. “This is weird. How did you end up looking like that?”
“A glamour. Tara cast this spell...”
“You still need to be careful; someone has double-crossed us. Samuel knows all about the tracker. He has one of his own. I can’t leave here while he has it, he’ll never leave me alone.”
“I’ll get it from him when I kill him.”
“No. You need to leave. He plans to use your blood to heal himself. He says he has a new witch too. That he will trap you.” Her voice openly portrayed her fears. She had to convince him to leave.
“Not if I have anything to do with it. I’ll kill him this time and make sure he’s dead.”
“You said you are weak. He will kill you. He knows everything, Zoah. You have to go. He will know you’re here; maybe instead of a dragon ward it's an alarm. They could be on their way. I don’t know how but he will be able to trap you.”
“No. He won’t.” Zoah gave her such a look of sadness that she grew scared. “I’m no longer a dragon.”
“What? What have you done?”
“It has to be my fault?”
“Well, you lost it,” she accused.
“I might have known I’d get no sympathy from you. I fell out of the...”
“Sky,” she finished. “Samuel told me.”
That got his attention. “He couldn’t know. I was miles from anywhere, there was no one around. Only the dragons and ... Tara knew.”
“He told me. So if Tara isn’t the spy, then who?”
“There has to be a way of finding out.”
“There is. She’s got to be here to cast the spell to trap you. If you leave she’s bound to be around when Samuel sells me to the vampire.”
“The what?”
“Vampire. One who is happy to pay a small fortune for a dragon’s mate.”
“Then you are coming with me right now.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. Immediately she could tell he didn’t have his full strength. So she pulled away from him.
“No. There is too much at stake for me to just run. I am not leaving here without the tracker and the identity of the witch.”
“Have you ever met a vampire? They are not to be messed with.”
“Then I suggest you go and ask Tara if she has any idea who the other witch is. It has to be someone she knows. Ask her who told her about the tracker charm. Were you at Spellholm when you fell from the sky?”
“No. But Connor took me back there.”
“Do you think one of the dragons could be behind this? Teamed up with a witch?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t know them, but they wouldn’t betray their own.”
“When we first met Marcas, Tara said he had a secret. It might be him.”
“Do you think Tara knows?”
“All I know is she’s been playing them for months, telling them she had lost her powers. But she knew exactly what was going to happen to me. She bought me a plane ticket to Crete before I’d even decided to go there.”
“I can’t believe you went to that monster. Whatever possessed you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. The Zoah dragon lookalike in the glass jar kind of freaked me out. Then a person I trusted told me I should leave. The usual ‘or things won’t turn out as they’re supposed to’ was mentioned.”
“You mean this little thing?” Zoah put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small jar with a blue dragon in it.
“He did it! Azure.” She put her hands around the jar. “Let him out.”
“No. I can’t afford to lose him. He is how I found you. That is what he was made for.”
She looked up at Zoah. “Samuel has a compass that does the same thing.”
“How?”
“My mother. But he knew about Azure too.”
“As far as I know, the only people who knew about him were Tara, Connor and me. When Dòmhnall found out, he made her tell him everything. She admitted helping you go to Crete, then she told him there was a traitor. He doesn’t believe her. We have to find out who is leaking all this information.”
“Or who gave Tara the spell.”
“Of course.”
“Go. Ask Tara.” She pushed him back towards the door.
“I can’t leave you.”
“Take care of Azure for me.” She looked at the strange man in front of her. “I hope that when we get out of this we can try to find a way of making the bond work.”
He came back to her and pulled her into his arms. “This is not how I expected our first meeting to be. I had hoped it would be a little more romantic.”
“I just hoped to be able to look into your beautiful face once more.”
“You will, Charlotte. I am so sorry this has happened to you again. I blame myself. I wanted you to be free.”
“You never asked me if that was what I wanted.”
“The last time I interacted in the world for more than carnal release, women were the property of men and did their bidding. I have a lot to learn about modern young women. I know that I will have a good teacher in you.”
“Your only teacher.”
“I thought I could run. That you could have your own life and I would forget you or bury myself in other pleasures. Now I know that is never going to happen. I swear I have never been with another woman since I knew what you were to me.”
“I can promise the same thing. But I feel like I’m betraying you by standing here in another man’s arms.” She tried to laugh off the absurdity of the situation, but she erupted into tears instead. “I’m sorry.”
His arms grew tighter around her, making her feel secure. If she screwed her eyes up tight, she could imagine it was Zoah, the real Zoah. Soon, she thought, soon. If she wasn’t mauled by a vampire first.
Chapter Thirty Five - Zoah
“I have to go.” He hated leaving her, but if he were caught, he would be of no use to her. The only way she was getting out of here was if he left. He needed to report to the dragons and Tara, who were waiting a mile away. They had sent him here to scout the building out after catching one of Samuel’s henchmen. That was whom Zoah had borrowed the face and body he now wore from.
It was a clever glamour. Now, after talking to Charlotte, he was worried that the traitor might know he was an imposter. Who was it? He wouldn’t know if he saw her. Having only ever briefly visited Spellholm and never mixed with the people who lived there.
“I love you,” she said. Her tear-stained face looking up to his with a mixture of hope and fear.
“The moon is full two nights hence. I swear to you we will complete the Moon Rite then. You will be mine then, Charlotte.”
“I already am.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head with his foreign lips. If he had been himself he would have kissed her properly, showed her how much he desired her. It just felt wrong in this body. He never wanted to picture her with another man, even if that man was him, in a bizarre way. What a mixed-up world he was asking her to join, but she was already a part of it. With or without him.
“Go.” Her voice was firm and her face set. Her earlier tears gone. “I know you will come for me.
”
“I might not be this man again.”
“I’ll know you. I feel your presence.”
“You always did. Didn’t you?”
“I know you’ve been watching me, Zoah.”
“I had to.”
“I know. It is in the past. I want our future to be fresh and new. I am not the child I was before you left.”
“I have changed too, Charlotte. But not as much. You will have to be patient with me.”
“Who said I wanted you to change? They say making up is the best part of arguing. I accept it’s not going to be easy.”
“We have forever to learn about each other. My heart is yours.”
He hoped she knew what he meant, but it was too much to think about now. If he wasn’t a dragon any more, he might not be able to grant her immortality. The Moon Rite might not mean anything any more. He may be human. Mortal. If Samuel drained his blood and bathed in it, he might just find that it did him no good at all.
He smiled wryly; he still meant to kill Samuel. Only now, it had to be with his human hands. It would be very satisfying.
Chapter Thirty Six - Tara
She hated waiting around. What the hell was keeping that useless dragon? Oh, wait, he wasn’t a dragon any more. Tara put her hand in her pocket and felt the small bundle there. Why did she risk everything for other people? Meddling in the business of others, especially those two sisters, was getting dangerous.
Marcas came back inside the small office they had broken into. They had started out in a café, but she couldn’t believe how hard it was for them to look inconspicuous. She had got a glimpse of the owner calling the police and told them to leave. As usual, they had taken her warning seriously. They always did, even Dòmhnall; it made it so easy to trick them.
Dòmhnall. He was furious with her. She had kept information from the Lord of all Dragons and he was pissed. That she had shown more loyalty to Connor and Zoah than him, did not sit well. Especially when she was his mate. Although, as usual, that part was omitted from his ranting. Would he ever claim her as his rightful mate?
Right now Marcas and Dòmhnall were whispering. She didn't know why they bothered; they were only discussing the length of Zoah’s absence. There. She saw him.
Love of the Dragon: BBW Shifter Romance (Her Dragon's Bane Book 4) Page 11